Bringing Sleepy Hollow to Life at Ballet West
The Art of Creating a Family Ballet
While fighting cancer and recovering from bone marrow transplants, Ballet West Rehearsal Director Pamela Robinson found an unexpected source of healing: the creative challenge of choreographing Ballet West's newest Family Classic Series production, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, set to premiere at the Capitol Theatre March 2026.
"I started the process while I was still undergoing treatments," Robinson recalls. "It gave me things to think about when I wasn't wiped out from treatment."
Creating a ballet based on Washington Irving's gothic tale presents unique challenges when your audience includes five-year-olds. How do you honor the spooky atmosphere of Sleepy Hollow without traumatizing the youngest viewers?
"It's a fine line to cross," Robinson explains. "You have to appeal to all ages. What would a five-year-old think is funny? When are they going to laugh, or are they going to think that it’s really scary, maybe too scary?”
The original story is a love triangle when schoolmaster Ichabod Crane arrives in town and disrupts the romance between wealthy Katrina Van Tassel and her longtime companion Brom Bones. But the story was too simple for a compelling ballet. "You can't tell the whole story with just three characters," Robinson notes.
Her research process was extensive. She watched the 1949 Disney adaptation, listened to radio shows, studied various theatrical scripts, and even researched the real Sleepy Hollow—yes, it exists, and its famous church is still standing.
The Choreographer's Process
What many don't realize is how physically demanding the creative process can be—something Robinson had to navigate while still recovering from treatments. First, she started with the music, selecting heavy pieces with strings, clarinet, and oboe, finding that the clarinet and oboe’s voice-like quality perfectly captures Ichabod's role as a teacher. "It's almost as if Ichabod Crane is speaking to his class," she explains.
Then comes the fascinating aspect of how she choreographs directly with the performers rather than planning every move in advance. "I definitely have my music selected and counted out, and I have ideas of when I want certain characters to arrive on stage," she says. "But then it's give and take."
This collaborative approach means being open to throwing out ideas that don't work. "What I thought was going to be terrific may be trash and we have to throw it all out and start over.”
Sleepless Nights and Musical Obsessions
The creative process follows Robinson even into sleep—or rather, prevents it. "Lately I've not been getting good sleep because I hear a tune in my head and I can't get it out," she laughs.
This musical preoccupation leads to the technical breakdown that makes ballet possible. Every piece of music must be counted and analyzed: Is it counted in sixes? Or are there three sixes in nine? Are we counting in eight? Is it a waltz? Only then can she begin mapping character entrances and movements.
A Legacy of Family Classics
Robinson's work on family ballet began in 2010 with The Little Mermaid, co-created with Peggy Dolkas. They followed with Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast before Robinson took on Snow White largely solo. Each production incorporates Ballet West Academy students from age eight through the advanced levels, maintaining the company's tradition of combining narration, music, and dance.
The key innovation came with Snow White: separating the narration from the dancing. "With Little Mermaid, the narration was within the dancing and people found it difficult," Robinson explains. Now the narrator tells the story while dancers pantomime, then scenes unfold with pure dance—a format she plans to continue with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The Family Classics Series represent more than entertainment; they're about inspiring the next generation. "You want the ballet to make five-year-olds and older artists want to always be dancers," she says. As rehearsals for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow approach, Robinson will continue the delicate balance of honoring Irving's atmospheric tale while creating something magical for families.
The production promises to be another captivating addition to Ballet West's Family Classic Series when it premieres at the Capitol Theatre in March 2026. Tickets are now available for this enchanting new ballet that's sure to delight audiences of all ages.